Google Find My Device Now Works Indoors For Some Buildings

In this technological day and age, we are still prone to forgetting and losing things. And in this technological day and age, we are still at a loss when trying to find them because most solutions come up short of what we need. Bluetooth trackers work only up to a certain range and GPS-based methods often don't work indoors. While those limitations still hold, Google has updated its Find My Device to give you some peace of mind when you do lose your phone inside buildings. The catch: it won't work for all places.

Granted, Find My Device already has a workaround for when you lose your phone indoors, as long as that "indoors" is an enclosed space. You can ring your Android device, which can hopefully be loud enough for you to hear. The problem is if it's a large building or area, like a mall or airport.

Fortunately, Google's here to the rescue with indoor maps. No, it has not driven its famous Google Street View car inside those locations, of course. Over the years, however, it has been working on capturing the layouts of large public places like stores, airports, and malls for Google Maps. Now it's using that data for locating lost phones.

Here's the catch. Just as Google Maps doesn't have layouts for all large enclosed spaces, neither will Find My Device. This feature might work for some of the more popular public spots but if you accidentally left your phone at a lesser known cafe in a less frequented mall, you might be out of luck.